Le Peche

A lot of people in the kitchen at Le Cinq have been around since before Brifard was there. When he came in I am not sure how many cooks he brought in from Les Elysees but definitely a lot of the kitchen staff was the one that Legendre was comanding previously. Briffard rearranged a lot of the kitchen. not only his menus/preparations but also how the brigade is divided, how orders come in and how food goes out of the kitchen for all of the areas, the room service, the bar gallerie restaurant and Le Cinq. Some people didn't like the changes, they left. I don't think this has hurt the quality of the food at all. Right now all of the chef de parties (people who do the actual cooking) for Le Cinq have been there for several years except for one who just came from the Plaza Athenee that has more then 5 years of experience too. That said from my impressions of the food at Le Cinq one worry that I have is consistency. I feel product is superior, the flavor combinations are clever and work well but one problem is that there are lot of components for one plate, and when the restaurant is packed it is easy to let standards slip a bit. a pan of girolles will overcook in seconds, shellfish can go rubbery and fish can go dry easily.

i think the most important factors on the final quality of a veal stock is which bones you use and how well you brown them. Often people use whole chunks of bone to brown for the stock but I recommend cutting it down to a smaller size (around golf ball) and brown the bone well on every possible surface. in culinary school we are always told to constantly skim the stock for fat and impurities, but what i've found in every professional kitchen ive worked in France is that they never skim stock. they let it cook with all of the impurities and fat and then cool it down and let it rest for a day or two after it is cold and all of the fat rises to the top, then they remove it. my chef use to say the fat adds a lot of flavor to the final sauce.

I know quite well the cuisine of Le Cinq. For me, the best way to enjoy it would be to take the 85 dinner and add on a plate from the carte (or two) to share with a friend. One of my favorite dishes on the menu right now is the: Fresh Duck Foie Gras from the Landes Region, Roasted with Black Sarawak Pepper, Braised Rhubarb, Gariguette Strawberries with Elderberry Juice. Cooked in a water bath and then caramelized at the last second it has a great soft poached foie gras texture with some nice caramelized taste on the outside and the accompaniments are great, the acidity of the rhubarb and sweetness/floral notes of the strawberry. Also just about anything on the 'meat and poultry' section of the cart is a homerun. Special mention on the whole veal kidney and bresse chicken in cocotte that are wonderful. One last tip, skip dessert and buy yourself another entree, like the Young Sprouts and baby Veg dish that comes from Paris posh farmer Joel Thiebault.

If you want to get real authenthic get some of the real good stuff I have heard called Speck. a cured smoked whole section of pork belly using some kind of traditional spices. Available in a very tiny charcuterie that is open about 4 hours a day in Baerenthal in Alsace. It's worth the trip.. I think.

La Cagouille had a very respectable plate of langoustines on my last visit. served simply with mayo, good sized portion.

Last time at Ledoyen (two weeks ago) I had a Pigeon dish from the carte in two preparations, one seared pigeon breast and also pigeon tartare. fantastic dish. Also from the lunch menu had the Sweetbreads with morels and first of the season green asparagus, very very good as well. Great asparagus and perfectly cooked sweetbread. It's hard to go wrong there, I just warn you away from the Millefeuille grapefruit dessert. Very hard sugar layers separating fresh grapefruit, sorbet and confit. the sugar turns into razorblades that slice your mouth as you eat only to be washed down by the super acidic grapefruit making it seem more like a torture device then a dessert.

There is a 3 michelin star chef in France that started cooking at around 40 years of age so.. you have 15 years on him right now, it's not too late.

Brand spankin' new spring menu starts this week! Will translate into english the names of the plates.. Menu Decouverte at 145 euro Small tasty appetizers *** Degustation of Beets *** Raw Langoustine, Strawberry, Black Olive Gelee, Yogurt Pearls and Crispy Cookie *** European Blue Lobster, Corn bonbon, Anchovy Chutney and Ponzu Emulsion *** Rouget a la Plancha, Rice Cream, Eggplant Confit, Verbena Oil *** Asparagus, Grapefruit, Ravioli of Celeri with Foie Gras, Consomme infused with Nutmet *** Roasted Pigeon breast, Reduced Jus, Canon of Cabbage, Confit Algues *** Cappucino of Green Peas with Emulsion of Baena Oil *** Invitation to Dessert *** Gallery of End of the Meal *** Menu Saveur at 115 Euro Small tasty appetizers *** Carpaccio of marinated Tuna, Taboulé gel, Granny Smith Apple, Caviar of Finger Lemon, Pearls of Feta *** Seared Cod, Pil Pil of Potato, Rhubarb Compote, Xeres Vinegar *** 'Le Pisenlit' *** Plate of Lamb and Baby Lamb, Reduced Jus, Carrot in texture and Candied Kumquat *** Cappucino of Potato and Black Truffle *** Invitation to Dessert *** Gallery of the end of the Meal *** In addition I believe there is also a new dessert a la carte that involves small squares of black sesame mousse, green apple gel with wasabi.

I'm quite interested in getting to know this restaurant. Any recent visits? I know they came out with a book recently, anyone check it out?

Young coconut has a lot of different uses, but it's hard to generalize by saying just 'young coconut'. when they are really young the meat inside is very gel like and sweet, and as it rippens it get slightly meatier but still relatively soft not like a completely mature coconut. If you find some really young coconuts with this gel like meat inside, try scooping some out and putting it over an oyster, its delicious. With the slightly more ripened meat you can use a mold to put it into a certain shape, stack it up and make like an all natural flan kind of like a panna cotta of coconut but without the use of any gelatin or cream. With the even more mature meat, you can dice it and use it in a salad or salsa.

I don't think Les Elysees closed, they just lost Brifard.

come on! are these all the juicy details you can muster?! this year is weak. on a side note, is piege getting fired and replaced for Philippe Labbe from the Chevre d'Or? I dont know where i heard this rumor..

At a famous restaurant in Paris they often take the left over lobster meat that is not used in the big plates like the little feet and some of the meat from the head, mix it with mayonaise and some tabasco, salt pepper. slice smoked salmon in very thin long sheets and tile them on top of one another, place the lobster meat in the middle and roll the salmon around the lobster meat. to create almost a sushi-like lobster roll. serve with a nice vinaigrette spiked with dill or a pesto. it's a delicious way to use those left over lobster pieces.

the gizzards are tasty breaded with a nice brioche breadcrumb and deep fried, the heart can be marinated, skewered and grilled.. The liver can be sauteed or made into terrine, even if it's not from a fattened duck. The neck and carcasse used to make a duck stock. The breast either smoked and sliced thin for salad or grilled/sauteed whole. Google 'canard sur coffre' for a nice way to cook the duck breast on the bone. The legs confit and served whole or made into rillettes, I haven't heard of breasts being made into rillete. Those are the most traditional preparations for duck bits. I'm sure someone uses the lungs in some way but I don't know of any.

do you know how often the menu changes? from the looks of it there is a spring/summer and then a fall/winter menu? im guessing it switches over on the restaurants closing time in january and september

there is an italian deli stand inside of the enfant rouges market that sells white truffles. they say its from alba but i doubt it. they only have small ones, about the size of a chestnut that sell between 24 and 35 euro. they also throw in some truffle scented eggs in the purchase if you ask for it. the quality isn't good but i havent seen truffles for that price anywhere.

hello, going to San Sebastian at the end of november for the 'lo mejor de la gastronomia' conference.. wondering if there are any suggestion for cheap eat tapas (or pintxos or whatever their called there) to go to afterwards? where is there good nightlife scene with dining? any suggestions for a first time visitor to san sebastian? thanks!!

sounds really amazing. its a great step forward for brazilian gastronomy to have world attention and exchange of ideas with european chefs like this. are you going to 'lo mejor de la gastronomia' in san sebastian just in a few weeks? there is one day that features all portuguese gastronomy from many different avant guarde chefs from the country. one day soon Brazil I am sure.

pate feuillite is indeed puff pastry. I've done the cheese sticks with puff pastry, gruyere and mornay sauce, I'm not sure if these are the type if cheese sticks from your childhood, but I know there is puff pastry dough in just about every grocery stores freezer aisle in the US, those should work fine.

had a lievre a la royale last weekend at Auberge Bressane in the 7th. served with a slab of foie gras on top, grapes and chestnuts. meat was a bit dry but had great flavor, cost is 30 or 40 euro. restaurant has quite a good game menu. dishes with venison, palombe (a type of pigeon), col vert duck, wild boar, partridge. Other dishes ordered were a seared venison loin served with a liver toast and a wild game pie with cepes. both good even though my friend said the cepes had a strange flavor.

hello marypoppins, i'm currently in the cuisine course at Ferrandi and I can tell you that the pastry one is very good. The anglophone class is taught by chef Didier Averty. he is very knowledgeable, excited about his work and a funny guy too. The pastry class gets work in all areas of traditional french pastry, bread baking classes (weekly i think), some butchery classes, art classes to design pastry and cakes as well as kitchen design to design your own pastry shop, wine classes exploring mainly dessert wines and the pairing of wine and desserts, french as a second language classes twice a week. There is also an optional stage, I believe up to 6 months, at some of the best pastry shops or restaurants in france available at the end of your schooling at Ferrandi. Not to mention that Pierre Herme also has his atelier at the school and offers extra courses for Ferrandi students to take. hope this helps, if you have any questions just let me know!

There is a restaurant that I ate at recently here in Paris called Bellota Bellota. they specialize in this incredible ham. definitely not cheap but there are 3 different types of bellota ham to try, they also have nice pork plates like a really good braised pork cheeks and plates featuring spanish items like great olive oil and white asparagus. The best is what they call a 'Vulcan' which is a vulcano of bellota ham, with a candle in the middle. the candle heats the surface that the ham is resting and slowly heats and slightly melts the fat so you have the warm melty fat when you eat the ham. Even if you've had a lot of this bellota ham, still leaves me speechless everytime.

any recent meals/news about this restaurant or its chef?

saw some very big cepes for 17 euro a kilo last week, they were horrible though. it has been a bad year for cepes. like you said, very little rain. there may be some better ones in turkey or croatia or something like that. I've seen them as much as 60 euro/kilo on the markets though.

Called last week to try to get a reservation and was told that the earliest they can seat me for dinner is february of 2009.. they said they do lunch on thursday and friday with about a month and a half reservation but I work those days. Was really looking forward to trying out Daniel Rose's food but i guess i wont be able to.